Page 66 - BusinessWest November 24, 2021

supply-chain issues, they have employment issues ... so I think some of these monies should
go to the small, the really small businesses that make up the fab- ric, the fiber of your downtowns and your communities.
“And it can’t be loans because loans come with interest,” he went on. “It has to be either grants or no-interest loans that have a forgiveness provision — it goes away after a short period
of time, be it two years or three
years or five years; if you stay open and you’re moving forward, the obli- gation to pay goes away. Some of this
“We have to have more market-rate housing in the region and be
creative about it, and that’s where we talk about downtown
developments. We can leverage Western Mass. and our lower cost of living
by investing in market-rate housing, and such investments will help our
businesses, because they are struggling to find and keep employees, and if
SETH STRATTON ” we have robust market-rate housing, that will certainly help.
money needs to go to your smallest businesses.”
That said, Sullivan and others stressed repeatedly the need to think
big when it comes to ARPA, meaning a focus on investments that will pay off the long term, with benefits for gen- erations of residents of a given city or
town. That could mean investments in everything from education and training initiatives to faster and more reliable internet, to initiatives that will unlock the development potential of unused and underutilized properties.
Seth Stratton, a business lawyer and managing partner of East Longmead- ow-based Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law, said the focus should be on economic- development-related investments, a broad term to be sure.
“The programs and initiatives that should be funded with these resources should be intentional, impactful, and innovative — all with an eye toward a continuing spark; it has to be transfor- mative,” he said, putting support for new housing projects high on his list of priorities. “We want to see economic development and a rising tide that lifts all boats. If we just do one-off projects here and there, that can be helpful, but it won’t have this comprehensive effect of economic development in what many of us see as somewhat of a new economy.
“What do restaurant, food and bev- erage, and entertainment venues look like going forward?” he continued.
“We ought to be thinking about what they look like moving forward and how to embrace that and use funds in a smart way that would have exponential impact, rather than talking about one- off items.”
Daley agreed, and mentioned, as one example, Ludlow Mills, the sprawl- ing former jute-making complex along the Chicopee River that Westmass now owns. He said investments made there by the state and perhaps the town of Ludlow could bring property in line for development and create jobs for sev- eral generations of area residents.
“We have several under-under- utilized and undevelopable proper- ties, and I think this one-time type
of money coming in could help put
us over the top to redevelop Ludlow Mills and other projects,” he said, add- ing that he hopes the ARPA money and funds in other federal programs, such as the infrastructure bill that was recently signed into law, trickle down to Western Mass. and help it attract the attention of the development commu- nity, which has often found it difficult to take on projects here for a number of reasons, including the market lease rates and the costs of renovating old mills and other properties.
“With a small investment — small relative to the numbers they’re talking
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